Club Land
by Pooka Neko1
Summary: Yui the necromancer and Miaka the healer are set in a futuristic world where they are hired to hunt down a demon for the great scientist, Nakago.
1. Default Chapter

Club Land  
  
By: Pooka Neko  
  
Notes: Don't kill me for setting it in alternate universe… And I don't own the series. If I did… then I wouldn't be writing this. And yes, the title is a song by Elvis Costello. The story's kind of a… Sci-Fi/Horror/Dark Humor/Romance/Fantasy story… so stick with me. Another thing is that the first chapter goes a little too fast for my liking. But I'll try to really slow things down by the second chapter.  
  
1 Chapter 1  
  
Beginning….?  
  
The long windows reflected vast images of the men inside the bar, swishing their cups around and looking for a woman to hit on. Laughter and the sound of slaps resonated throughout the commodious house, without a whisper of poison among the drinks. How was this possible, some wondered that a place with so many rowdy men and crazy women could actually seem peaceful for a minute and a half?  
  
The men would not talk loudly about what it could possibly be; everybody could see it in plain sight, actually: The girl looked innocent from a view far away. But everybody could see her jeweled blade in the sheath at her hip. They all recognized the necklace she wore around her neck as the mark of one who deals with death. Her necklace also could have just frightened them because the chain was made out of bones, with a little skull hanging at the bottom.  
  
The girl pushed some of her shoulder length blond hair out of her face, and fingered the blood splotches that had never been cleaned on the counter. She never understood why woman would actually want to be hired as a barmaid to take care of the filthy men. And that's what they all were, filthy men who had no lives and had no woman to go home to once the day was done.  
  
Her partner, sitting across from her, had hidden her blade upon entering, with a brown riding cloaking that served no purpose except to keep her head dry and to look cool. She twirled a strand of dark brown hair on her finger while the girl with blond hair grounded her teeth. Sometimes her partner could really get on her case…  
  
But at least she was helpful. Many male partners who died upon accidentally interfering with her necromancer spells had accompanied her. But, this girl, this Miaka, had never really bothered her when she was on a job. And it was also custom rule that a necromancer should be followed by a healer, just in case something terrible and ungodly happened.  
  
Miaka flashed her necklace made out of soapstone with the lapis lazuli attached to it, hoping to grab a barmaid's attention. "Yui…" she muttered in her pathetic tone, "Couldn't we have gone somewhere where the barmaids actually pay attention to their female customers and the men aren't such pigs?"  
  
"No…" she muttered with a grin. "You give up so easily. Once you've lived past a year with me, you'll understand what patience is like. Soon, you'll wait for hours, trying to spot out the demon…"  
  
"Yui… You're scaring me again. Wipe that stupid grin off your face! And why can't they serve us right now? I'm starving!" She fingered the hilt of her jeweled blade, hoping to deter the men from her pathway. "If I have to be closer then ten inches to any of these men, I'm just going to find a fast food restaurant…"  
  
"Fast food restaurant?" Yui asked, brushing some of her hair out of her face.  
  
"Yui! Don't tempt me! I swear I'm going to die of starvation!" She chuckled out. When the other girl started to chuckle, Miaka patted her shoulder in victory. "That's it! I'm going to go see what is wrong with the barmaid…"  
  
Miaka jumped up from her seat and stormed away to find one of the "available" barmaids. Good luck there…Yui thought to herself as she straightened out her school uniform. No matter what they were, high school was always on top of their heels, knocking them down.  
  
She always pondered on if being a necromancer bounty hunter was more important then keeping her grades up. If she ever wanted to live a better life then this… If she ever wanted to work as one of the scientists for Hotohori… Then she would have to do both. Unfortunately, she had been cursed with the ability to bring the dead and the dead spirits back up to attack those who she was sent after. And she couldn't help it if she carried her jeweled blade. That was the only way to get business. Only bounty hunters carried blades with jewels as precious as those melded on them…  
  
Yui had been caught in her thoughts, wondering if her contractor had actually given her enough yen to actually be motivated to catch this demon, that she didn't notice the flash of fire behind her. But a starving young girl who had been bitching at a barmaid noticed the sign.  
  
"Oh no… Oh no…" She squeaked out. "Yui… Yui…" Miaka had never faced a demon before… But now… Now, when she actually had the chance to claim victory over having defeated one of the most feared creatures in the galaxy, all she could muster up were squeaks and the dawning sickness of fear.  
  
Now she could see it forming into the curvaceous worm of death that had a taste for human brains. "Yui… Yui!" she finally screeched out.  
  
Miaka had just enough time to create a barrier around herself before the demon could lash one of its thousand fingered claws at her. She ripped her blade out of her sheath, and held it with a quivering hand. Didn't Yui hear me? Maybe she left me to die… Oh, Yui! I never did anything wrong to you!  
  
Miaka winced when the ear piercing sound of swords clashing upon each other reached her eardrums. She fell back upon the tables like a dizzy ballerina in Swan Lake, to open her eyes and see, with such relief, Yui standing exactly where she had been.  
  
"Yui… Please be careful…" she whispered, not trying to distract her friend.  
  
Yui flashed the blade, letting the demon know her purpose for tracking it. But before she could even take a swing at the demon, it locked its jaws on her elbow. Miaka winced harder, this time actually feeling emotion pain to hear her friend give out a blood-curdling scream. That's it then… I just have to do it.  
  
There was still time for her to back out of this… Let Yui get herself killed and she could run away and forget all of this. Run away… Run away… Yes, I could do that!  
  
It took quite a big force to send Miaka into a running stance. She looked back at Yui, her one true friend who actually made jokes that she could get, who had already taken her on so many adventures in the past. "How dare you!" she squeaked out, and ran with a loud battle cry.  
  
The blade fell on the demon's lips, turning into water and falling on the floor without a splash. The puddle of water swished away to the back of the bar, but Miaka didn't notice. Her first concern was her friend.  
  
"Yui… Yui…" she whispered protectively.  
  
Yui, on the other hand, had already felt the drunken stage of too much blood out of her system. I've failed? No! Hongo Yui does not fail! She thought, trying to keep herself awake. But the insides of her eyelids were so pretty, with the swaying colors of yellow, green, blue, and most importantly, black.  
  
"You ruined my dress!" was the last thing she heard before finally letting the darkness take over her young body.  
  
**  
  
"Now, students, I told you that you had exactly two weeks to write that report! How could seventy-five percent of you forget it? I talked about it every day! Now, let me show you a good student! Yui, present your report! Now!"  
  
Yui had never liked the evil teacher. He was her opponent, and she thought the only way to get rid of him was through attacking his assignments with such ferocity that he would completely forget her. And she wasn't the only one he yacked to day in and day out. The boy behind her was also victim to his assignments and "compliments". But for now… she would obey.  
  
She walked discretely to the front of the class, her weapon of choice, a report, in her hand. The boy who sat behind her always stared at her with total attention, and for once, she felt like she was actually going to be respected for giving this report.  
  
"What has happened to the world of yesterday?" she began. "Sure, we see the movies of the fifties and laugh at their ideas. People going to the moon? We destroyed the moon millions of years ago. Save the endangered animals? You ask anybody what the word 'animal' means, and they will surely give you a confused look." Now it was getting annoying… How could the boy have eyes that blue? Never once did his eyes falter from her emerald green gaze.  
  
"Although, there are some advantages of today. People now can be born with abilities that surpass the human's own strength. Forget traveling. As we all know, elevators can take you from Konan to Kutou. And", she added with a glint in her eyes, "necromancers can bring loved ones who have been dead for more then five years to the living world."  
  
The blue eyes still retained their non-human look, and became a texture she had seen somewhere before. What was it called again? Miaka had always told her that clothes made out of it were the best… Cotton!  
  
Cotton blue eyes? There's no such thing… Wait… it's wet… Wet cotton blue eyes… Very strange.  
  
"Yui!"  
  
"Wha… Wha da ya want…" she slurred finally feeling the grip of the burning sun in her direction. "…Miaka?" she asked, trying to finger out her friend's face.  
  
"Of course it's me! Who else had to save you from that pretty demon? I swear if I were paid every time I had to heal you, I would be swimming in the riches right now! You are as reckless as an insane cat", she muttered, patting Yui's arm.  
  
"Look who's talking. If you couldn't make a barrier in time, you would have been a new demon sandwich, complete with the meat."  
  
"Meat? I like meat!"  
  
Yui pulled herself up at the voice. Only Miaka and I live here… If that wasn't Miaka… then… that must be-  
  
"Oh, Yui! I just um… forgot to tell you that… Well, you know when you see a cute little dog on the street and you just have to take it home? Well…" she stopped in mid sentence, watching the anger on Yui's face grow to a burning inferno. "The… um… demon… Isn't really a demon… Maybe if you just calmed down a little, then your arm would heal faster, Yui…"  
  
"Where is it?" she snarled, forgetting that her friend had actually helped her this time.  
  
"Well… It's in the kitchen. But please, don't hurt it. It's very nice, and it even helped you! Can we keep it, please oh please can we keep it?" Innocent pathetic brown eyes that could always, always change her mind attacked Yui.  
  
Yui shoved her friend with her good arm and stormed over to the kitchen. Now she was going to show whom was boss… Now she was going kick whatever it was out of her house! Do you hear me? She wanted to scream. You are going to be out of here in one second!  
  
The door slammed open with strength and a pissed off Hongo Yui stomped inside, to see her prey. It shrieked, and stared at her with alarming fear. The eyes grew wider, and Yui could feel the innocence of this thing getting to her. It had a very pretty mix of sand and roses for a complexion, with pretty eyes and a strange color of hair to match. Well… Almost everybody dyes their hair nowadays…  
  
"What was the point of scaring me half to death when I, yes I shall have to repeat this, I saved your life?" it asked, pushing the violet braid out to it's back.  
  
Yui's eyes fell upon the package it had in its hands, complete with fruit, drinks, meat, and even a little carrot. "You are not getting away with our things!" she shouted, lunging forward at it.  
  
"No! Don't touch it!" it wailed, defending Yui's attack with great strength. "You are going to spoil my good food! Do not touch, you hear me?" it snapped, slapping her hands away from it.  
  
Yui growled lowly, hoping this creature would learn the word rules in her home… but it simply sat on her couch, with her food, propped it's feet up on her coffee table, and turned on her television set.  
  
"You should appreciate me being here. The master of sleight hand has decided to grace his presence upon you, and you won't even let him have a few snacks… Really. But if you dare to anger Nuriko of the sleight-hand… you shall find yourself in a deep fix, lady…" he murmured while getting comfortable. 


	2. 2-Follow the Yellow Brick Road

1 Club Land  
  
2- Follow the Yellow Brick Road  
  
"Rock, paper, scissors!"  
  
The three pairs of hands flew out upon the plain fields of a coffee table, with only two victors left. The pair of hands that were shaped into a rock slowly slid out as the two papers went into the same chant as before.  
  
They fell out onto the coffee table once more, taking extra time to try and second-guess the opponent. But the hands fell and time was running out. One pair shaped scissors; the other retreated to paper.  
  
"That's the third time I beat you!" Miaka shouted zealously. "Now will you come with us to turn yourself in, Demon?"  
  
Nuriko growled silently in his throat, thinking of plenty of ways to get revenge on the girl. "One more game! Just one more game! And then I'll let you take me… But until then… One more game!"  
  
"No more!" Yui shouted. "We've already gone through five games! Miaka has beaten you three times! You are coming with us now!" She grasped his hands, only to be pulled back by non-human strength.  
  
"Please!" he muttered, with innocent eyes that had started their work on Yui already. "You can't send me to Nakago! Please, please, please! I'll clean the place, I'll buy your groceries, I'll wash your dog!"  
  
"We don't have a dog…" Miaka muttered. "All though there might be one back at my home…" Miaka finally noticed the battle of faces going on in the living room: Nuriko's innocent cute eyes and Yui's cold glare. "Right…" she added before sitting down on the couch.  
  
Nuriko's face switched to seriousness, and he spoke in Miaka's direction instead of the cold-faced girl. "I'm a shiftshaper. We live in packs, you know! You guys could be my new pack! Just think of it! With my sleight-of-hand tricks, you guys could be making so much more money then you make now. Just imagine it…" he murmured, waving his hand in the air.  
  
"That's great. That's just wonderful. But listen: We will get more money then you could ever give us by turning you in to the right person. Got that? So we're not going to play your little game. You're gong back to where you belong", Yui said in a cold voice that went well with her expression.  
  
"Oh…" he muttered to himself. "Well, we've played a fair and square game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and now I must turn myself in, I guess…" He gingerly threw out his wrists, awaiting for his arrest, and trip back home.  
  
**  
  
The moon let her blue and white rays beam down on the earth that had traversed her skin, allowing light for the night traveler. He preferred walking than using those damnable elevators. You'd never know when one of them would break down and then you'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere!  
  
His partner, the one with the annoying laugh, kept his sunglasses on, even if the sun wasn't up. He had his hair tied in a high ponytail, the way he always kept it, with a black leather jacket.  
  
The night traveler kept his black cape billowing around his ankles, his blue armor so un-scientist like. Unlike his partner for tonight, he kept his long blond hair down, and his cold blue eyes were not hidden behind the shades that his partner wore, and he would never be seen wearing them. In his hand, he held the beginning of a leash that held a cat-freak monster. The cat-freak purred deep in its throat, staring at the night traveler's partner.  
  
"Just keep him away from me…" night traveler's partner muttered, repaying the cat-freak by glaring. It's not like the cat-freak noticed, for the sunglasses were hiding the partner's eyes. It only cleaned its dishwater blond fur and growled with fierce slit blue eyes.  
  
The night traveler pet his creation that stood almost at his waist. He did not answer his partner, and he didn't feel like it. Sometimes his partners could really get on his case… but now he was miff.  
  
She was supposed to be here an hour ago…he thought, thinking back to the deal he had made with the girl. She and her companion would bring back his creation, whether they wanted to or not.  
  
"Maybe they're not going to be here, Nakago…" his partner mumbled, probably hoping he didn't hear it. His partner did not know what he could do to him if he dared to oppose him…  
  
"Shut up, Tomo…" was all he could say. He would spare his cold inflection and somber voice for the girl and her friend. While he waited, he petted his cat-freak. Children from the orphanage always made the best creations.  
  
"Now they're coming…" he muttered, ignoring Nakago's comment. He would let him comment on him, but he wouldn't let it get to him. Besides… he liked the man's cold company on a summer night.  
  
Finally…Nakago thought to himself, She got the bright idea to turn in my little creation…And as he thought it, he could see the green cape that the girl wore, and her bone necklace shimmering in the night. Following her was her healer companion, and his pet with its purple braid.  
  
His other pet, Nuriko, held a somber face. Somebody didn't want to go back home… Nakago thought to himself. They came closer, and Nakago petted his cat-freak once again.  
  
Yui dragged Nuriko the last few steps as Miaka petted his shoulder reassuringly. "All right…" Yui muttered. "I brought your demon, now give us our money." Miaka stood to Yui's side, nodding her head.  
  
"Why, my pet, I have missed you! Why did you take such an unexpected absence?" he asked with a tint of fake emotion in the apathetic voice. Nuriko gave one last look at Yui, innocence at its peak.  
  
Miaka smiled back at Nuriko, and mouthed, "Good bye". She patted Yui's shoulder, hoping she would change her mind and bring the blithe shiftshaper that had brought joy to Miaka. He had been the only funny thing in the house other than the television…  
  
"Very well…" he muttered, pulling out a heavy pouch. With his empty hand, he tossed it too Miaka, and instead of catching it, it hit her chest hard. "Have fun in hell, little girls…" he muttered, taking the leash off of the cat-freak.  
  
"Damn it… Why does everybody turn on us?" Yui asked while the cat- freak paced forward. Fear could be smelled by the cat-freak, and Tomo grinned.  
  
"What's the matter, brave bounty hunter girl? You must be allergic to cats, eh? Well, don't worry. You won't need allergy medicine where you're going! Kakakakakakakaka…" he chuckled to himself.  
  
"Shut up, Tomo", Nakago interrupted before the man could go on any further with his annoying laugh. Although he tried to hide it, he was interested to watch the bounty hunters reactions.  
  
Yui and Miaka had backed up now, hoping the cat-freak would do the same. "What is this… this thing?" Miaka asked in a rude tone.  
  
"It's quite easy to understand, really…" Nakago muttered, while blowing on his nails. The cat-freak was taking a slow time to get to them, and Nakago let his boredom run rabid. "In Japanese mythology, there was an old couple who couldn't make enough money to support them. They had a little cat that talked to them one day and told them that she would make money for them. She turned into a human and became a geisha. Only one man saw her transform into a cat, and she told him that he shouldn't tell any of his friends. Unfortunately, he did, and while he was on a boat, a big hand came down from the sky and grabbed him. His friends never recalled what had happened to him or what he told them. Basically, it's an okesa."  
  
"Okesa…" Miaka muttered. She swore she had heard that word before… Maybe it had been in class… And when she hadn't been listening.  
  
"Miaka… If I were you, I'd stop looking to the sky and start saving your power or getting out your blade…" Yui whispered to her friend. Miaka nodded and pulled out her blade, trying to transfer some of her power to it.  
  
"What's the point of setting Suboshi on them, eh Nakago?" Nuriko asked, both intriguingly and rudely. Nakago's body shivered violently, and he swore that he would make the boy suffer upon getting back home.  
  
Yui didn't care if Nuriko was angering her betraying client; her attention was centered on the Okesa that now came closer. Something was wrong about it; its eyes were just… too human. It had those same blue eyes that the student in her class had… and its fur was the same color as his hair… Connection, Yui? She thought to herself. There definitely was a connection. And either she could die right now, or she could survive, and she and Miaka could kick his butt when they saw him at school. IF she survived, that is… The last time she had been very careless, and maybe she would do the same thing today.  
  
"Fine then…" she muttered, pulling out her blade. Even now she could see the Okesa grin like the Cheshire Cat, and she could sense something in the wind. Miaka could feel it too, shivering so little, that you could hardly see it.  
  
The Okesa lunged at her, possibly trying to tear her throat apart. But Yui had been prepared for an attack like that when she had begun training; she thrust her blade into its arm, and gritted her teeth when the blood spilled mostly on her instead of him. The Okesa fell back, and licked its arm. Surely it had learned its lesson… hadn't it?  
  
Obviously not, and especially not when the Okesa lunged at her again, this time sliding for her leg. Yui let a scream of rage out of her throat when its claws pierced her leg and slammed her blade down onto its back. Now it had learned its lesson.  
  
But the Okesa slid away from her leg and grinned at her as it had done before. Its job was still not over, and it sat down for a minute, wondering if it should attack or not. Wondering where exactly would there be a clean kill. It was too late to go after the healing one; she was too far away for him to run to and actually save some strength for. The necromancer one would have to do.  
  
It would be one more attack before she finally killed him, but he could kill her at the same instant if he had to. And for his last attack, he lunged at her torso: Something Yui had never learned to counter attack. Now she was going to learn.  
  
By the time it wrapped its claws around her torso, she plunged her blade into a shoulder with fur that was rapidly changing into human skin and a usual riding cloak. Before Yui knew what was happening, a strange object came out of his shoulder, with fur at the end and it was spinning rapidly. The object, whatever it was, for Yui had no clue, shredded her shoulder before the now human Okesa could collapse. Yui fell to her knees, and quickly looked over to Miaka, signaling for help.  
  
"Damn… why does that always happen?" Nakago asked Tomo, who shrugged without any care in his emphasis. "And this whole entire time, I thought you would jump out and save one of them. That's how you react, anyway…" he muttered to Nuriko.  
  
"I would have…" Nuriko muttered back, "If some lug hadn't stood in my way the whole entire time…" He quickly moved his eyes to Tomo. Glare. Glare.  
  
"All right then, Miss Necromancer(1), why don't you see what it's like to face Tomo…" he said with a grin that could almost match the Okesa.  
  
"You don't seem to have the girl's attention, Nakago…" Tomo muttered, hoping for a grander entrance then just tapping the girls on their shoulders. But if their attentions were not on Tomo or Nakago, where were they?  
  
"Miaka, I said no the first time, it's no this time too."  
  
"Oh, come on! I never leave a patient! And you saw him! Maybe he can turn into a cute house cat, too!"  
  
"Yes, a cute house cat that shreds your legs to bits and pieces!"  
  
"But I never leave a patient…" she muttered, picking up the human. "And I never will. Now you can either fight without a healer, or you can come home with me."  
  
Yui shook her head and patted her friend's shoulder. "I'm starting to believe you have more will power than I first thought you had."  
  
"Um… girls?"  
  
The two turned around to see Nakago, Tomo, and Nuriko. "Girls?" Nuriko asked again. "Well you see, it's the funniest thing. They still want to kill you, and the other thing is that they were going to send Tomo after you, but you destroyed his great entrance."  
  
"What?" Miaka asked, before something from behind grabbed her shoulder. Yui was grabbed as well, on her newly healed shoulder, from behind. And before Yui knew what was happening, a great pain entered her side. She heard Miaka give out a bone-chilling scream, and she was sure she could feel the now human Okesa leaning on her side.  
  
"What is your problem?" she asked the Okesa, who only shrugged limply. She shoved him and turned around to see what had been the problem. And instead of Miaka being in the way, there was a blade not unlike hers or Miaka's saying hello to her nose.  
  
"Nakago!" shouted a masculine voice.  
  
See you next time.  
  
Notes: Wow! I actually went on to a chapter two! Most people who know me as a writer know that I never go on to chapter two. Okay, this time I actually described just what an Okesa was, and I've been thinking of describing what Nuriko is a little later along the way. As for the number notes…  
  
1- Ong: Missee naycreemahncay!  
  
Axle: Let's all say it together: Knee-Crow-Man-Ser.  
  
And say hello to my new ending phrase: See you next time! And maybe even Ja Ne! 


	3. 3-Me, Me, Me

1 Club Land  
  
3-Me, Me, Me. (A.K.A.: Byakko Seishi Chapter)  
  
Ameturi took off his horribly fashioned boots and slipped on quiet and comfy slippers. If he hated something more than anything, it was wearing boots. And, if he was going to have to hate something more, it was having Suzuno call him about a million times asking him if he wanted to help her decorate the school cafeteria.  
  
Fuck school, for all I care…he thought silently to himself. Maybe Suzuno had even put some cameras in his room, just to make sure he wasn't doing anything "un-holy". The next thing he knew, the whole school would throw him out for one itty-bitty little thing that didn't matter to the rest of the world.  
  
Ameturi looked different from the rest of them, anyway. He had very long thin fingers that looked like they belonged on somebody else's hands. Not on this short and lean scruffy looking boy who wore ripped up trench coats to school on top of his uniform… And he had the strangest looking hair, starting at the top with a light brown and fading all the way down to his bangs, a dark forest green. Ameturi had violet eyes and hair so scruffy, that you couldn't tell if it was long or short sometimes. He was not as he appeared to the other children, yet played the part: A young bum, off to the streets.  
  
And now, the insufferable phone rang its scream of rage at him again. The answering machine picked it up as Ameturi pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, and listened for the young and high-pitched voice of Oosugi Suzuno.  
  
His answering machine answered as followed: "Hello, the Nagasaki's are not at home for the moment. So go to hell and don't leave a message." Then, the message came as followed: "Ameturi! Listen, I know you're not home and all, even though you are home, probably taking advantage of the rules at school and doing something terrible like smoking, I wanted to know if you wanted to come over to my house for a while. Hayashiburi desu, ne?(1)"  
  
Ameturi almost jumped out of his seat to grab the phone, but alas, it ended with a soft beep. You fool! You idiot! He had wanted to scream at himself. That had not been Suzuno…  
  
No indeed, it had not been Suzuno. Karasuki. That had been his Karasuki who had never returned his calls in Junior High School. They had been really good friends for a year… But something drifted in between then and he hadn't seen her for years. Now he had the chance to go see her again, to see what she had been up to, and if she still watched Trash- Flicks non-stop. Maybe… she still had the woven "friendship" bracelet he had given her in the sixth grade.  
  
**  
  
"Nakago…" the voice said again, amidst a dark and gloomy backdrop of dark trees and a lonesome park. Yui had been the first to notice, and her nose had been the closest to his blade. He had the same blade she did. He wore the same necklace she did. It was almost like a red-blinking light saying, "Hey! I'm a necromancer!"  
  
"What is it now? Another one of you people coming to tell me that you didn't like the pet you bought from me?" he asked so apathetically it almost made Miaka chuckle… If a strong grip of a stranger didn't have her by her shoulder.  
  
"No…" the male muttered, glaring humorously. "I brought you Nuriko, like you asked! Now pay up!" He held out his palm and starting shaking it in the air. "Money makes the world go around, 'Boss'. Now if I were you, I'd pay up now, or I'll taking Nuriko the talking doll back to my friends, who can torture him and do anything they want with him."  
  
Nuriko had been standing beside Tomo, and now grew a curious look about his face. Another Nuriko? Why that's impossible! The man pulled out a hand puppet, that looked similar to the character with the purple braid, but it just didn't seem to have the same expression.  
  
"That's what he wanted from you?" Miaka laughed out. "We already got Nuriko! But go ahead, turn him in. Maybe you'll get a present, too." She gave thanks to Yui in her eyes before turning them over to the Okesa.  
  
"That would be so…" he muttered. "If I wasn't the best bounty hunter in the world!" The bounty huntresses could only give him one type of look: A death glare.  
  
Nakago shifted his cape so the others could see his armor. "I'm sorry, dear necromancer, but I've already given all my money to the young maidens here. And I'll see you all some other time." With that, Nakago disappeared, his flunky and his "pet" Nuriko along with him.  
  
"…He… He… Didn't…" the boy struggled to say. "Money… I… catch… Nuriko…" Slowly, his violet eyes turned to gaze upon the two girls, the one with brown hair still trying to heal the blonde one. "You two… You… SHINY THING!" he shouted, surprising the two as he ran over and fondled Yui's necklace. "Damn…" he muttered, realizing that it was, in fact, just a necklace with bones. He threw the puppet aside, and looked to the new girls.  
  
"Well hello ther-"  
  
"I thought it was stated that a necromancer had to be followed by a healer every step of its way…" Yui muttered, slapping the boy's hand away from her necklace. "Couldn't you get arrested if you didn't travel with a healer?"  
  
"That's nice and all, but I don't really understand what you're saying. You see here", he said, getting closer to the girl's ears, "I was told that I had to travel with a First Aid kit. I was also told that I didn't have to get interrogated by female bounty hunters!" By the end, he had shouted loud enough that the two stared at him, puzzled.  
  
"That's BOUNTY HUNTRESSES!" Miaka shouted, equaling his shout.  
  
The boy grinned and continued on. "Well now, your voice can go up the Richter scale, now can't it? Anyway, my name is Tamahome. I know you've never heard of me, but I'm a rising star, just waiting to get his name plastered on something… The side of a wall would be just fantastic…"  
  
The two girls let him fantasize a few more seconds and then they both crossed their arms in unison. "You didn't get your money. Go away", Yui muttered, pulling Miaka away from the annoying boy while she grabbed at the Okesa.  
  
"Please, Yui? He's hurt!" she mumbled, ignoring Yui's hold and walking closer to the Okesa who was in great pain. Finally, she was able to break free of Yui's grasp and ran over to the Okesa. "If we walk back, and I preserve my power until we get home, then I could probably heal him", she said triumphantly.  
  
Yui shook her head pessimistically and begrudgingly. Sometimes, Miaka could be just so infuriating… "Fine! Fine! Go ahead, take him, get yourself killed. If you heal him, then that means I get to tie him up to a chair or something of the sort. And you!" she shouted, pointing a blaming pointer finger at Tamahome, "Get lost. We don't give help to bums."  
  
"Me? A bum?" Tamahome asked with a look so innocent and curious, Miaka chuckled to herself. Yui grabbed Miaka's wrist when the winks and looks ensued. "Well, maiden, I must be going, for your low tolerant friend seems to have started a disliking towards me. See you two later. Maybe we'll be competition later on…" he muttered, already walking away to the shadows.  
  
"Hmpf!" Yui muttered, cracking her knuckles. "We'll see about that…" Miaka grinned. Whenever Yui said that… Competition always seemed to disappear.  
  
**  
  
Karasuki had spent the day getting up late, forgetting the tie of her school uniform, and forgetting to watch "Vampira and the Creepy Trash Flicks" in the afternoon. But now the day had gone by smoothly, and she really wanted to see all of her old friends. It'll be nice to see Kokie… He'd probably be in college by now. The same scholar that he's always been… Tokaki will be a pain, but at least he puts all of his energy on Subaru… Tatara is too much of a romantic man for me to actually like… Suzuno will want to braid my hair… Toroki will still be the little mama's boy he is and Ameturi… Well, Ameturi is just weird. Ever since we started to grow up, he got really weird.  
  
She had called them all for a meeting… but why? Because the old gang will help you find out what B movie you haven't seen… No, that's not it… What was it…? Karasuki shook her head, and got prepared to meet her old friends.  
  
Karasuki had always had her hair cut like her role model, Veronica Lake. She kept the wavy strawberry blond curls around her shoulders, a lock covering her left gray eye. The other eye, a bright green, had been the one she decided she wouldn't cover. She put on her black shirt, with white words that said, "THIS is my boom stick!". She put on her black jeans, with the holes on the knees on second without a thought about what exactly her friends remembered her as.  
  
The pictures on the wall would remind them. She had been the cute little girl wearing the emerald green dress with both eyes uncovered. She had been the little girl with the dimples and the adorable grin. Until her mother died.  
  
But now it would be different. The whole gang would come together, they could see how she was doing, and they could all watch one of her really old B movies, older than Karasuki's great, great grandmother.  
  
The first knock awoke her from her near slumber, as she groggily went to the door, coffee on her mind. Ameturi. As weird as he had been since she last saw him. With his strange enough natural brown-fading-to-green hair, torn up trench coat, straw hat, and blue sunglasses. Yes indeed, he was still as weird as he had been when she last saw him in eighth grade.  
  
"Ameturi…" she muttered. Great, it's an intense moment…"You look… different. How have you been?"  
  
"I have a new pain…" he muttered, hoping she would get the clue. "And I have named it 'High School'."(2)  
  
He had been approved. Karasuki grabbed Ameturi in a bear hug and whispered, "My gods, it has been a long time since I have seen you. You do not know how much I have missed your sarcasm! Come on! Come on in!"  
  
"Not yet…" he muttered. "You have to invite me inside, first. You know the rules… I can't enter your house until you invite me in."  
  
"Right! Right!" she shouted, grabbing the fake fangs on her desk and putting them in her mouth. "Vill you come in? And please… Do not over me vine…" She grabbed Ameturi's arm, too quickly for him to comprehend what was happening, and pulled him inside while spitting out her fangs. "Wow…" she muttered, sizing him up. "You haven't grown since eighth grade haven't you?"  
  
"Family gene", he mumbled out before sitting on her couch with reassurance. If she were going to make fun of his height, she'd have to do it with him sitting down, giving her the disadvantage of not being able to size him up again. "So what have you been up to, Karasuki?" he asked, trying his best to sound as if he came from the fifties.  
  
"Do not call me Karasuki…" she purred out. "My name is not Karasuki… My name is Rhiannon…"  
  
Ameturi left a smidgen of a smile for her few fantasies. She always came up with something completely stupid that Ameturi just couldn't resist. It was an innocence that hung around as a halo around her head. She didn't care about the other things in life except for her B movies, her name changes, and Veronica Lake. And it was somewhat of a release for her, to be out of this crudely drawn circle that girls were supposed to step into. Karasuki stepped out of it.  
  
"Is anybody home?" the familiar curious voice asked. He was at the door, and the two hung their heads, hoping it just wasn't the same person.  
  
"Yes, Tokaki?" Karasuki asked, knowing that the named person would answer with something that included a female nickname afterwards.  
  
"Of course it's me, baby! Who did you think I was? Some hobo sitting on your couch, who is now smoking?" the man with short white hair and amber eyes asked, his eyes grazing over Ameturi. "Who's the dude, baby? Some hitchhiker you found on the street and felt pitiful for? Wait a sec…" he murmured, looking over the features that he had seen a thousand times before when he had been the boy's same age. "My gods! You're Ameturi! Well… you have certainly changed…" Tokaki's mind fumbled through the old children photographs, stopping on a boy of only eleven years old. Then he had been so cute, with home made kimonos by his parents. Then he had been a boy who was in all the "social" groups, and was named "Best Personality" and "Most Likely to Succeed". Looks like he threw it away. "What happened to Mr. "Best Looks", "Best Personality", and "Most Likely to Succeed", Ameturi?" he asked quite rudely.  
  
"He became a human being with faults", Ameturi returned. "You obviously haven't changed, Tokaki. Perverted, nosy, loud, and you still give Karasuki pet names."  
  
"Right-teo!" he shouted, smiling with a wild radiance that was so hard to find in the dark atmospheric town he lived in. "So where are your parents? They used to be your body guards."  
  
"That's what we're here for!" Karasuki said with a smile. "We're all going to catch up with each other and watch some kick ass B movies!" There was that innocence again, her sweet smile getting two admirers.  
  
"Tokaki!" Subaru shouted from the door. Her beautiful long wavy hair and slim body frame moved delicately through the doorway. "How many times have I told you NOT to go near any girl, or I would personally rip out your throat?!"  
  
"Eheh… Darling!" Tokaki muttered without enthusiasm. "So… so nice to have you at my side… again. Don't get me wrong!" he shouted, finally noticing Subaru's growing anger. "Darling! I was just catching up with Karasuki, and can you believe it's actually Ameturi!" He paced quickly over to her, patting her back and whispering sweet nothings in her ear, which quieted the observant Subaru.  
  
"Where are the rest of the gang?" Tokaki asked, looking at the three others.  
  
"Don't expect Suzuno to come, I go to school with her, and she's always too 'busy'", Ameturi growled out.  
  
"Don't worry kiddo, you'll learn what to do when a girl likes you", Tokaki whispered in his ear, and pulled on the darkest green lock he could find.  
  
"Itai! Don't do that! And I wouldn't be attracted to Suzuno if she were the last girl on the earth! I wouldn't go near her if she completely changed her attitude, or if she… if she…" he was at a loss of words for his anger. How could Tokaki actually suggest such a thing!  
  
"I don't like you either…" Suzuno muttered from the shifting door. "And Karasuki… How many times do I have to tell you that you should close your doors after someone has walked in? You'd never know if one of the bounty hunters would come and steal all of your things!"  
  
The two girls' eyes met, and memories with each other spurred off into the past. When one girl had been older than the other by two months, she obviously had the right to make fun of her. Yet, when it was Karasuki's birthday, she could be the one teasing Suzuno. But that didn't stop the burst of physical action.  
  
"Suzy!" Karasuki shouted, running to the girl and jumping into her arms.  
  
"Kara!" Suzuno shouted back, squeezing the girl. Tatara stood behind her, ready to help the girl if anything went wrong. Tokaki and Ameturi chuckled to themselves when they saw Tatara pull the girl away and huddle with his girl. Almost the same way that Tokaki touched Subaru as his girl.  
  
Even Kokie, who could seem so hidden at times, had been able to slip past Karasuki's gaze as she had been hugging Suzuno. Now he sat on the couch by the short Ameturi, who looked like a leprechaun next to Kokie. His perfectly combed black hair had been kept in the same "effeminate" braid that went down to the middle of his rib cage, with a tall and lean body that still had a feminine look. Ameturi knew well enough not to take Kokie for what he looked like: He had always been the one shoving Ameturi around, taking toys from him when they had been bought for Ameturi. He wore one of the simple kimonos that his parents had made him, and he looked evil and sinister with his evil brown eyes. Ameturi should know; Kokie was his older brother.  
  
Fine, you may sit with me, but don't even try to talk to me… they both thought quietly as they crossed their legs; one too short, and the other too long. They moved alike, and looked alike, yet seemed to be different in their heights.  
  
"Are you two still not talking to each other?" the meek voice that belonged to little Toroki questioned. Ameturi didn't even have to look to know it was the small and young Toroki, the only one of the group who wouldn't go out in the sun.  
  
Toroki was the young version of Ameturi, and if he knew how his life went, he knew that Toroki would try to make some revisions. He was the youngest out of a family of three, and the only one out of the group who was a person with albinism. He wore his family treasure, a long-sleeved black shirt, jeans, and a red leather vest that had been handed down for what was now six hundred years.  
  
"Evening, Toroki", Ameturi muttered, ruffling the boy's short white hair. He quickly climbed over the couch and sat between the over- exaggerating brothers who just "couldn't come to terms".  
  
"We're all here!" Karasuki shouted with glee, hugging her old friends one at a time, and ignoring the gloomy Ameturi and Kokie. "Now, if I had my post-it notes, then I would be able to tell you all what I gathered you here for!" She retreated into her business desk that she kept beside the television, searching for her post-it notes that she always kept to keep her memory. If she didn't have them… then the water would have run out, the electricity would have gone out, and her hair wouldn't be so clean.  
  
"Here they are", Subaru proclaimed, picking them up from the floor. "You should always keep them with you, dear! We don't want you totally loosing your mind, now do we?" Subaru almost didn't want to give the post- its to the sheepish and embarrassed girl.  
  
"Darling, don't scare people like that. They don't like your unhappy face. If you're ever going to make it in the world, you need to cool it", Tokaki said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Dear, keep in mind who owns your keep", Subaru retorted, pulling on one of his hoop earrings.  
  
"Right, here it is!" Karasuki muttered, flipping through all the old notes. "It says, 'Tell all of your old gang to come over for a minute. You want to tell them that they must give up their lives to the great scientist Nakago if they still want the world to spin.'"  
  
"Nan-shit!" Ameturi didn't have enough time to finish his curse before the house started to rumble. Almost on instinct, he rushed forward, and grabbed Karasuki, trying to protect her with his arms as the ceiling started to come apart. Wires from the electric doors and windows flew out, laughing at him as he struggled to hold the struggling banshee who wouldn't live without her B movie collection. Almost immediately as it had started, the house stopped rumbling.  
  
"Let me go!" Karasuki wailed, looking over to her collection. Poor things had been smashed.  
  
Before the sadness of loosing her life could overwhelm her, Ameturi looked up to see a shadow standing above him. "You're hurt…" Karasuki muttered, wiping some of the blood from his cheek before she saw the shadow. His cold blue eyes almost smiled at the two, his long blond hair pushed behind his blue cloak.  
  
"Who… are you?" was the last thing Ameturi could recall before blanking out.  
  
**  
  
Where am I? Stuck in my unconscious mind? No… probably dead. Ch, not like that girl was going to give me a second to live. Once I fell, she probably grounded my heart into the ground. Aniki… I didn't mean to leave you so quickly… I really didn't… That's it! Why did she kill me, the little bitch? She didn't have any right to it whatsoever!  
  
"I think he's doing better…"  
  
What is this? Some stupid little light? Maybe I'm dying… Maybe not. Either way, Nakago dumped me for the killing. Aniki… Forgive me…  
  
The darkness became twirling lights, shifting around in his gaze. Long bubbles and tiny whales passed by while a green tornado washed by and destroyed the images. The blinds were being pulled open, and he couldn't stop it. No, the light was hurting his eyes too much! No! Go away!  
  
"Are you okay, Mr. Okesa?"  
  
Then it struck him: I'm… I'm alive! I'm not dead! I'm alive!  
  
"Mmph… Mmmh?" Why couldn't he speak? What was wrong with him? "Moh…" he muttered to himself, noticing the rope and the muzzle around his mouth. Sometimes they just had to play the part of the barbarians. And not only that, they had to give him a muzzle!  
  
"Shtake shis toff tof sme beshore shi geth pished", he tried to say to the girl with long brown hair. Did she understand him? It didn't matter. If she didn't take off this muzzle, he was seriously going to get pissed and would use any advantage he had over her.  
  
"Sure thing", she muttered, though, and took it off with high hopes that the boy would not snap off her fingers.  
  
"Miaka, you are so trusting…" Yui muttered, coming closer to the boy as lightning crashed outside, an orchestra of light and booms. "You'd think that somebody who tried to kill me earlier would at least give it his best shot to try again. I'm sure that he would be grateful to learn that his 'master' left him to die whilst we took him in!"  
  
The Okesa was quiet for now, obviously sizing her up, hoping she was an easy opponent. Maybe not with words, but if he ever got a grip of her wrist, oh what he could do to her. "Sho… Obviously you have no idea what I've been through! While you have been sitting in this room, probably reading your magazines, I have been at home, worrying for my own brother who is stuck with the one man who left me to die, yet somehow he seemed nice, but now I see that he would take me back in if I killed you two, and- "  
  
"Miaka, quick. Put the muzzle back on." The girl hurried to obey, cutting off the boy's means of screaming at her. Now they were stuck in what was pure silence, and the Okesa did not like it.  
  
Miaka ran to her bag of goodies and pulled out a contraption that had been in use for quite some years. It was smaller than an earring, yet could do more harm than any one of Yui's blades. Miaka carefully placed it on his neck.  
  
"That's better! Now if you ever try to attack one of us, that little thing will zap you and you'll be kitty stir-fry. That way, we can take away the inconvenient ropes and muzzle", Miaka muttered as she worked on untying him and un-muzzling him.  
  
"Come on, Miaka… We've got to look for a new job…" Yui muttered, slowly closing the door once Miaka was outside of the room.  
  
Now the Okesa was to himself, to do as he pleased. He pushed back his dishwater blond bangs as he pulled the cloak off to reveal his arm. This always hurts…he thought to himself as he plunged his nail into the skin.  
  
Aniki! I'm alive!  
  
What do you mean?  
  
Long story. I'll explain later. But first, you have to help me.  
  
In another pickle?  
  
Shut up.  
  
Ja ne!  
  
Notes: Ergh! Why did I get so… "light" like and un-futuristic when I got to the Byakko Seishi? Damn… Oh well. Amazingly, I got to the third chapter! Yay for me! I'm actually working on my story! By the way… I recently got really pissed off at this, and thought that you people should know. R's in Japanese are pronounced like L's.  
  
Ex: Nuriko-Nuu-lee-koh not Nuu-ree-koh.  
  
We get a sad shake at Japanese Language Class whenever we pronounce the R's like English R's. So, remember that.  
  
1-Hayashiburi desu ne? (Hah-yah-shi-buu-lee des-nay) It's been a long time, hasn't it?  
  
2-Two cult classic favorites. "THIS is my boom stick"- Ash from Army of Darkness when he first meets the people… and "I have a new pain and I have named it 'Batman'"-From my favorite action movie, Batman. (The one by Tim Burton!) 


End file.
